[Info-vax] The (now lost) future of Alpha.

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 8/3/2018 4:57 AM, invalid wrote:
> On 2018-08-02, Arne Vajhøj <arne at vajhoej.dk> wrote:
>> On 8/1/2018 3:16 PM, invalid wrote:
>>> You guys need to understand z/Arch and z/OS are built entirely around
>>> assembler. There is *no* direct system interface except in assembler and
>>> PL/X. And it is only from around z/OS 1.10 (2.3 just came out and 1.13 was
>>> the last of the 1. series) where there was a C compiler capable of running
>>> with no runtime and being able to support inline assembler to call systems
>>> services since C cannot do it directly. And it is only in the very recent
>>> past IBM has started to try to create header files for all the systems
>>> services (nothing has been released yet) and we only know it by
>>> accident. But it's a huge job and far from complete. When it is done, then
>>> it will be physically possible and feasible to write compilers in C. But no
>>> reasonable person would suggest they would be willing to take a chance on
>>> breaking their enterprise clients applications just so they can say their
>>> compilers were written in C.
>>
>> Well - a compiler can be written in pure C with no system calls at all
>> beyond the C RTL.
> 
> No, a compiler in the IBM world needs storage

So?

I am pretty sure that C/C++ can access storage.

>                                            and other systems services so
> it is OS specific. 

What system services do a compiler need?

(besides what is available in standard C RTL)

>> So no need for any assembler to make system calls.
> 
> There is if you want to get anything done besides getting control and
> returning to the system.

????

The compiler runs, read the source file, generate the output file and
exits.

Arne